Deron Williams is Wearing the Wrong-Colored Backpack in Turkey

In addition to his struggles with the European game, Deron Williams must also tread carefully when it comes to sports rivalries and team colors across the pond. He blogs about his experiences with fans in Turkey: “Rivalries are big over here. If you know anything about European soccer, you know that fans take their rivalries very seriously. It’s the same in basketball. I had no clue, and my backpack almost got me in trouble. I have this backpack that I made on Nike ID a while back and it’s black, red and yellow. Black and red are my favorite colors, and yellow is in there for the black and gold to represent the Steelers. But, apparently black, red and yellow are the colors of one of our biggest rivals, Galatasaray. I’ve been hearing about it since the day I got over here; as soon as I got to the airport. Right then, like five people told me I had on the wrong color. I still wear the backpack because it’s my backpack. I like it and I haven’t had a chance to get a new one. Every day they tell me to take it off, that I have to get a new one. Our other big rival in the Turkish League is Fenerbahce and we play them coming up in a few weeks here. They’re the two-time defending Turkish Cup champions and last year they beat Besiktas in the finals, so that’s a big game. I’m told the fans always get amped up for those games. We don’t play Galatasaray until December. If I’m still here, I might have to bring a new backpack that day.”